


The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors

by PrisonersDilemma



Category: Captain America - All Media Types, Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Medieval, Dark Magic, M/M, Necromancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-02
Updated: 2017-08-02
Packaged: 2018-12-10 01:38:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11681319
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrisonersDilemma/pseuds/PrisonersDilemma
Summary: Tony was born a neglected prince. He turns to dark magic as a form of coping.





	The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly this could have been so much better but I'm hella lazy and just wanted to get it done. Idk if you want me to write anything more in this universe I can write stuff to fill in holes and add detail in places like when it comes to Steve and Tony's relationship. I decided not to go into it a whole lot because it's really more about TONY and shit instead of Steve or Steve and Tony.. Uhm yeah. Idk.

It was midnight when Antonio Howard Stark was born. Lighting rained from the sky and bards would forever sing about it as the darkest night in a millennia.

Maybe it had nothing to do with Maria’s son, but she would never forget to remind him that God had hated him since the second he was born. It probably didn't help that it thundered even louder every time he cried.

Maria was distraught. She had always wanted to be a queen and she knew what that meant. Her match with Howard was political at best and although Tony was certainly Howard’s child, she wanted nothing to do with him. It was her duty to bear Howard’s children, and that was it. If he died she’d most likely be expected to have another, but until that day, Maria wouldn't worry about it. She gave a handmaiden the honour of nursing the Prince and returned to her life of dinner parties and charity work, and isn't that what's really important?

It wasn’t that she hated Tony. He was her son after all and she recognized him as such. Maria hoped that he could be happy one day, but she was never meant to act as a mother. She didn't love Howard, or her family, or herself, or her son. She knew her duty. She knew her purpose, and she would act accordingly.

It was midnight when Antonio Howard Stark was born. Lightning rained from the sky and bards would forever sing about it as the darkest night in a millennia.

Maybe it had nothing to do with Howard’s son, but he would never forget to remind Tony that he was the one to cause the darkness. Howard always said “We are made of Iron. You are a Stark and the Gods will fear you.” He was also always drunk.

Howard loved Tony. He would have sacrificed anything for his only child, but the kingdom was at war and he was always busy. He didn't handle stress well. Howard wasn't the only one in the kingdom to get damaged from the war, but he was the only father Tony had.

Tony talks.  
Howard yells.  
Tony cries.  
Howard throws.  
Tony’s hungry.  
Howard is angry.

That's the way it goes until Tony learns how to hide. He avoids his father and his mother isn’t around anyways. Once Tony can walk, he never attends meals. He rarely sees anybody. He's a ghost in the castle and nobody misses him.

Howard is always angry, always stressed and a baby doesn't help. Tony’s earliest memory is a conversation between his parents.

Howard: I found Tony crawling in the halls again today.  
Maria: And how does this concern me?  
Howard: You know I can’t have your little brat out bothering everybody.  
Maria: Fuck you. Don't you think I have better things to do then watch your little shit of a son  
Howard: Just keep him out of my way. I don't want to see him.

Howard doesn't have magic but he knows how to fight, whether it’s on the battlefield or in his own home.

When Tony is two years old an army of orcs invaded the capital. That had never happened before and the castle was in a panic. Tony was petrified. It was the first time he had ever seen people die. It was enchanting. Of course, the young prince knew it was wrong. He knew it was bad that the kingdom is falling, but as he watched the blood spill from both allies and enemies alike, he couldn’t help but want more. As he watched from his hiding spot in the wall, Tony noticed the figure of an angel. 

The angel had blond hair and the most beautiful blue eyes. Tony couldn’t help but watch for the entire duration of the battle as the young boy slayed orcs left and right, splattering blood everywhere. It was beautiful. He was beautiful, and the death he caused was beautiful. 

When Howard announced that the boy was to become his new squire, Tony became even more sure of his decision to learn to kill as beautifully as his blond angel. If killing could make his father notice him, it must be good. Everybody seemed to be happy about death. Maybe learning to kill would make people happy. 

Tony was five when he successfully accomplished his first spell. He wasn’t exactly allowed to study magic, but he was invisible enough to sneak through the castle to find scrolls and books of magic.

Over the years, Tony had quickly become resentful towards his angel. The man whom he had previously seen as an idol, quickly became a rival as he stole all the love Howard once had for him, and gave it to Steve instead. It wasn’t fair. Howard never used to talk to him, and he still very rarely made time for his son, but now it seemed like the only thing the king had to talk about was his squire.

“Oh Steve is simply amazing. He’s the best, most honourable man I have ever met.” 

Tony hated Steve. Tony absolutely hated Steve. Tony tried to hate Steve, but the way Steve fought, and ate, and slept was just so alluring that the prince couldn’t help but listen to his father. He knew Steve was perfect. He knew he should be more like Steve, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t hate him too. 

That was why the first spell Tony attempted was to turn the angel to stone. He knew he couldn’t kill Steve. As much as Tony craved the sight of a fresh death, he was smart enough to know that it was only okay to kill bad people. Steve was an enemy but he wasn’t a bad person. If he killed Steve then he would be bad. 

Tony was only five when he turned his angel to stone and his life would never be the same again. Neither was Howard.

After Steve was gone Howard became even more abusive. He never hit Tony, but perhaps it would have been better if he had. 

Howard was always drunk and Maria was always gone. Tony was alone and that was never a good thing. His obsession with the dark arts only got stronger. He didn’t really care about anything. He had no friends, and no basically no family. 

When Tony was six, Howard got a new Steward. Jarvis became Tony’s best friend. At first Tony would cloak himself in Shadows to avoid the older man, but over time he couldn’t help but admire Jarvis. Jarvis was kind and perfect. He was almost as perfect as Steve, but Jarvis couldn’t steal his father away from him. 

If Tony hadn’t met Jarvis he might have never forgiven Steve. Jarvis played with Tony. They played with toys and Tony felt like a real kid. Jarvis was the father he never had. Tony didn’t need spells when Jarvis was around. He spent four years with Jarvis and he was almost happy.

Then Howard remembered he had a son. Howard decided he needed to teach Tony how to be a good leader. Tony wanted to kill Howard. 

Tony started having tutors that he couldn’t avoid. His father hadn’t cared before, and now Tony realized that may have been a blessing in disguise. Sometimes his teachers would mysteriously disappear and Jarvis would glance at him knowingly, but nothing could get him out of the absolute hell that was spending time with his father. 

If the king had to go to something, so did Tony, and Howard was drunk the whole time. The townspeople weren’t blind either. Even if his father didn’t notice their unrest, Tony did. In fact, it wouldn’t be long before somebody decided to do something about it.

Tony would be prepared.

Tony Stark was 16 when his parents were murdered. He should have been happy, but one look at Jarvis and Tony was sobbing in his arms.

Jarvis died two weeks later. 

Tony promised himself that he would be a good king.

When Tony was 16 he had his first council meeting. His father’s main advisor was there. Obadiah Stane. Obadiah Stane promised to help him through it all and Tony couldn’t help but believe him. He was all there was left.

It was a foggy afternoon and Tony was in his private.. Dungeon which he used for experiments in dark magic. The floor was stained with blood as Tony stayed on the ground reading. 

Nobody should have known about the passages to get there, but somehow he was interrupted by the voice of his advisor.

“I won’t tell anybody.”

Obie kept good on his promise. He encouraged Tony to explore his passion, supplying him with anything he might need. 

When Tony was 17 he realized he had turned into his father. It was the anniversary of his parent’s deaths and Tony attended his second council meeting. This time he decided he would keep his promise.

 

When Tony woke up, he was covered in blood. Pieces of metal stuck out of him. His head felt fuzzy and his wrists burned with pain. If he had really focused maybe he would have noticed Obadiah Stane standing over him.

The weeks when he was a captive were horrible as he was tortured. His fingernails were ripped off, nails were drilled into him, and he was constantly beaten. What Tony couldn’t understand was how they knew he could do magic.

Eventually, he agreed to do the ritual they asked of him. He knew it was that or death. He ended up dying anyways, but that was okay. He got his revenge. 

Tony had always been dead inside. Now he could finally be himself. Taking back the kingdom was easy with an army of demons and undead creatures. Tony had never felt like much of a leader, but he couldn’t help but feel comfortable around the dead. 

He killed Obie himself. 

Tony liked to think he was a good ruler. Everybody knew about his magic, but Tony promised he would only use it on enemies. 

Tony didn’t want to be a dictator. He was a king, but he was not malicious. When Tony was 21 he met Pepper Potts. She was beautiful and she wasn’t afraid of him. He made her his queen. 

When Tony was 22 he decided he didn’t want to be King anymore. Pepper was a good queen. She would do better than he ever could. 

Tony was 23 when he started Stark Industries. Tony wasn’t naive enough to think of himself as a good person but even bad people can do good things. Tony wasn’t afraid of death. He destroyed anything that threatened his empire. He sold his charms and spells. He sold things to make people young, he sold things to make people transform. Tony was the ruler he always promised he would be. All he had to do was trust Pepper and keep everything from blowing up.

Tony was almost 30 when everything blew up. There were too many threats. The kingdom had expanded under Pepper’s control and Tony would never admit he needed help, until Pepper told him about an organization that had formed within the castle. 

Nick Fury. Nick had been the captain of the guard for as long as.. Well nobody knew how long exactly. He was a cold man, but Tony knew he would defend the kingdom and himself.

Nick invited Tony to join the team. Natasha was a rogue. Clint was an archer. Thor was a God. Bruce was a monster. Tony was.. Tony was dead.

Tony refused to join the team. 

When Tony was 33, his angel was reborn. Tony wasn’t surprised that a spell done by such a young kid didn’t last. (Even if that kid was Antonio Howard Stark.) Tony wasn’t surprised that Steve joined Nick’s team.

Tony joined the Avengers a month later. 

Tony and Steve didn’t get along. Tony told himself they hated each other. He told himself it was okay when Steve’s eyes softened and looked away in hurt. Tony didn’t care. If he spent a little longer than necessary staring at Steve’s lips.. Or chest.. Or ass.. It didn’t mean anything.. Right?

When Tony was 33 he started having dreams about Steve. Hands brushed down his body, touching him, caressing him, loving him. Soft lips tickled his neck and nipped his chest. Tony started waking up to a stickiness in his pants. His face would flush at the sight of his angel, so Tony did the mature thing. He avoided Steve. 

Tony was 34 when he had sex with Steve for the first time. It was both amazing and terrifying.

Nobody could find the King for almost a year.  
Tony was 35 when Steve found him living in a cave.

“I think we need to talk.”

When Tony was 36 he made gay marriage legal. A vampire would visit any poor soul who objected to the motion. For the first time in his life, Tony could really say he was happy.

Tony was 40 when he married Steve. The wedding was beautiful, and it only got better with the edition of Jarvis who scolded Tony for bringing him back. Luckily Tony was able to change the subject to the wedding and Jarvis smiled. 

Maybe things would be alright.


End file.
